LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A day after Gov. Andy Beshear said Brazilian meat-packing giant JBS is considering closing its Louisville pork plant because of rising coronavirus infections among its workers, the company gave no indication a closure is imminent.
“We will continue to work with health officials, medical experts, and local, state and federal officials to ensure we provide a safe working environment for our team members providing food for us all,” JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett told WDRB News. “The safety of our team members is our number one priority. We will not operate a facility if we do not believe it is safe.”
There are 57 confirmed COVID-19 cases among JBS’ workforce, Beshear said Sunday. That’s up from the 34 cases the state health department disclosed last week.
The plant in Louisville’s Butchertown neighborhood employs about 1,200 in all, according to JBS. It slaughters thousands of hogs a day.
“They (JBS) are still working on their plan and have not yet closed,” Beshear said Sunday. “Louisville is working with JBS exploring a plan, possible closure and benefits of the closure.”
Meatpacking plants, where workers typically packed in tight quarters, have been closely watched during the pandemic for viral outbreaks.
While the Louisville plant has continued to operate with additional precautions, JBS briefly closed its Worthington, Minn., pork plant and its Green Bay, Wisconsin beef plant last month because of outbreaks.
A Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota where more than 850 workers tested positive will partially reopen Monday after shuttering for more than two weeks, while Arkansas-based Tyson Foods said its Logansport, Indiana, pork processing plant where nearly 900 employees tested positive will also resume “limited production” on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
President Trump last week signed an executive order designed “to keep meat and poultry processing facilities open,” though the Washington Post reported that the order doesn’t actually order them to stay open or prevent closures.
Beshear on Sunday praised brief closures of a Tyson plant near Henderson, Ky. and the Specialty Foods Group plant in Owensboro.
“Even with something that is this important to the food supply chain, we cannot allow people to walk into an unsafe environment knowing that this is there,” Beshear said.
Mayor Greg Fischer said Monday that his administration is "watching infections there (at JBS) pretty carefully."
Dr. Sarah Moyer, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Health & Wellness, said during Fischer's daily press conference that the department is closely following JBS, though she didn't mention any potential closure.
She said the plant already made changes meant to allow more social distancing and "plant cleanings."
"We are hoping to see the fruits of that labor in the coming weeks with less cases being diagnosed," she said.
